Rajnath assures 'effective action' in PNB fraud scam case

New Delhi [India], Feb. 16 (ANI): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that an effective action will be taken against the accused in the 1.77 billion dollars scam detected by Punjab National Bank (PNB).

"Effective action is being undertaken. The administration has swung into action," Singh said reacting to oppositions' allegations against the Centre.

Earlier in the day, the Finance Ministry sources said that PNB is fully capable of taking the entire hit of Rs. 11,300 crore fraud. The sources highlighted that the recapitalisation of the PNB will not be impacted by fraud case.

"The bank will get its recapitalisation share of Rs. 5000 crore, as allocated earlier," stated the sources.

Earlier today, the bank suspended eight of its employees, with the total number of suspended employees at 18, which also includes General Manager level officers.

With the internal investigations underway, the Interpol had issued diffusion notice against billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi and his business partner and uncle Mehul Choksi.

A diffusion notice is less formal than a notice. It is used to request the arrest or location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation.

After almost 24 hours, raids continued at Nirav Modi's boutique in Kala Ghoda in Mumbai. It is alleged that Modi and his associate companies fraudulently acquired PNB guarantees worth USD 1.7 billion that they later used to obtain overseas loans.

Yesterday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) seeking revocation of passports of Nirav Modi in connection with the PNB fraud case.

Besides Nirav Modi, the agency also asked to revoke the passport of his wife Ami Modi and his relative Mehul Choksi.

Yesterday, the agency also conducted searches at 17 premises of Nirav Modi and Geetanjali Gems across India in connection with the same case. The probe agency also seized stocks of gold, diamond and other precious stones worth Rs 5100 crore.

The scam was started in 2011 and was detected in the third week of January this year, after which the PNB officials reported it to the concerned agencies. (ANI)